Childcare

Question 1

types of childcare

Answer 1

• in-home care: in kid’s own house with nanny, grandparent, etc.
• day-care: home/family care centre or childcare centre
• pre-school: typically a more limited age range 2/3-5, often have specific curriculum/philosophies
• all refer to care by non-primary caregiver

Question 2

benefits/limitations of in-home care

Answer 2

• Benefits: familiar, one-on-one attention, flexibility

- Limitations: cost (if nanny), less social interaction, potentially untrained caregiver

Question 3

benefits/limitations of home/family care centre

Answer 3

• Benefits of house/family care: home-like setting, potential opportunities for social interaction, may have some flexibility
• Limitations of house/family care: may not be licensed or professionally trained, lack of back-up care

Question 4

benefits/limitations of childcare centre

Answer 4

• Benefits of childcare centre: opportunities for social interaction, caregivers usually have training/supervision, age-appropriate activities, more structure
• Limitations of childcare centre: less individualized attention, less flexibility of schedule

Question 5

when/where is childcare most common?

Answer 5

• 2-4 age range
• Highest in Quebec because it’s subsidized
• Across ages, 46% of kids are in some form of childcare

Question 6

stats on types of childcare in BC and Canada

Answer 6

• Canada: Fairly even split: 31% in home daycare, 33% in daycare centre, 28% in private arrangements
• BC is 25%, 20%, and 40%, respectively
• Across Canada, location is the deciding factor in type of childcare arrangement chosen

Question 7

influences on childcare

Answer 7

• historical influences
• economic influences
• cultural influences

Question 8

historical influences

Answer 8

• Historically, non-parental care has always been universal and normative
• Historically common arrangements:
• • Hunter-gatherer societies: cooperative hunting among men, cooperative gathering among women
• • Care by relatives, older children
• Now, increase in centre-based care and care by non-relatives

Question 9

economic influences

Answer 9

• Decisions about childcare are often determined by economic circumstances, both within families and within societies/governments
• In many cases, availability/use of childcare has been linked to maternal employment
• • Ex. Sweden’s industrialization led to many women needed in the workforce -> gov. created extensive parental leave policies and high-quality childcare to make this happen; this happened to a lesser degree in N.Am in WWII

Question 10

cultural influences

Answer 10

• different cultures have different goals
• Either culturally viewed as a public responsibility (ex. Sweden) or as a private responsibility (ex. USA)
• Either viewed as a social welfare program or an early education program (early ed. perspective leads to it being used more)
• Different conceptions of early childhood and development

Question 11

different cultural goals of childcare

Answer 11

• Boost female employment
• Acculturation (teach children about the culture they’re in)
• Enriching children’s lives

Question 12

study: effects of early childcare on child functioning between 4.5 yrs to 6th grade

Answer 12

• methods used: recruited families shortly after birth, over intervals throughout years reported childcare quality and type, and childcare quality was observed; also collected info about classroom quality, after-school experience, and child outcomes (cognitive and social) -> process measures
• main findings: parenting matters more than children; children in high-quality care of any kind had higher vocab scores; children in center-based care had more problem behaviours
• Conclusions: all influences of different types of childcare are insignficant by sixth grade other than vocab and problem behaviours
• Implications: high-quality daycare could improve language development of low SES kids (important for education)
• potential limitations: not nationally representative, correlational, focused on individual kids

Question 13

factors to consider when considering impact of childcare on children

Answer 13

• Quality of care
• Age of child
• Length of time in care
• Type of care
• Number of different childcare arrangements throughout childhood
• Family background/SES
• Characteristics of the child

Question 14

2 ways of measuring childcare quality

Answer 14

• process measures

- structural measures

Question 15

process measures

Answer 15

• aspects of the childcare setting and interactions that can be rated by a trained observer
• • Sensitive/responsive caregiving
• • Individual attention
• • Age-appropriate activities

Question 16

structural measures

Answer 16

• aspects of the childcare structure thought to be associated with quality
• • Level of caregiver training/experience
• • Group size
• • Caregiver-child ratio/crowding
• • Staff turnover

Question 17

Outcomes of Childcare

Answer 17

• Attachment: childcare does not affect attachment
• Behavioural problems: lots of debate/mixed results; likely related to quality of care and type of care
• Cognitive/language skills: mixed results; differences according to SES -> may reduce delays common of low SES; influenced by quality of care; possible advantages for centre-based care
• Long-term effects: NICHD study -> from birth to 15 years old, asked parents to report when kids entered childcare, how much, what kind, etc. and looked for how those things were related to health, behaviour, and school outcomes (Belsky et al. is part of this initiative)

Question 18

major issue with childcare

Answer 18

• More people want high-quality childcare than there are places available
• Lack of supply drives up prices
• Lack of supply and high cost leads parents to make non-optimal arrangements